#Write31Days 16 • Salt Lake City

Mount Olympus


Utah

This is day 16, the exact middle of the 31-day challenge!
Salt Lake City forever will remain a place I need to rationalize what went right because by most human standards so many things went wrong during my time there. This series featured the state of Utah a week ago yesterday; like the rest of Utah, SLC and its immediate surroundings are packed full of natural wonders. SLC possesses the biblical number of seven canyons; creeks that flow through SLC's more urban canyons {City Creek, Mill Creek, Red Butte, Emigration, and Parley's} have been in the process of becoming literally daylighted and restored to health rather than continuing as canals. Larger canyons Little Cottonwood and Big Cottonwood were – and still are – near enough to the city for even a short escapade up the canyon into big sky wonders.

Whether or not you've visited SLC or other parts of the intermountain west, maybe you know Brigham Young announced the Salt Lake Valley as "the place" the Latter-day Saints would settle. Pioneer Day that commemorates that event every July 24 is a major Utah holiday. Some years I watched fireworks a few streets up the hill from where I lived, other years at Liberty Park. You've likely seen pictures of Temple Square at Christmas time, and you may recognize the SLC LDS temple. Nearby Abravanel Hall is home to the Utah Symphony Orchestra. I had the joy of attending some Saturday evening concerts with a friend some of the times her daughter had to work and couldn't use her ticket. I also attended some Finishing Touches open rehearsals.

I trudged through CROP walks or the local equivalent during non-CROP years. Most of Utah's land mass is rural, most of the population, urban. I could walk to the Utah State Fair from my apartment on The Avenues! Getting to the fair was a longish walk, but easier than inconveniently parking and then walking for a half mile, or taking more than one city bus a relatively short distance.

Because I served on the board of three non-profit organizations and was active in at least two others, I participated in more than my fair share of activities that were politically, socially, and culturally broadening and enlightening. I never bothered to count my sound bite appearances on the late evening {10 pm in Utah} network affiliate news! Alongside my activist endeavors, I sat in on classes at the U, joined Toastmasters in order to become a better speaker, always attended the annual Poverty Conference and the Neighborhood Conference. I even had the smarts to find computer classes and start digitizing my design! That's the short list, so maybe SLC was more of a growing and learning space than a place of sorrow and disappointment?

Would I visit SLC? Only if someone I knew still lived there. I reconnected on facebook with next door neighbor Laurie, who currently lives in Provo, not far from Brigham Young University or "The Y." Would I vacation in Utah again? In a heartbeat—and I already have!